When the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots take their first road trip later this month, players like quarterback Tom Brady will be setting the standard for comfort and legroom on the team’s new private widebody jet.

Moreover, by simply changing from a commercial charter to their own private plane, the NFL franchise also will be skirting a significant portion of the taxes and fees that pay for the U.S. aviation system.

Flight delays have become a fact of life as the nation's outdated aviation infrastructure struggles to meet modern travel demands — a problem magnified during busy flying days like the upcoming Labor Day weekend. While Congress is working on reforms to help fix these problems, many Americans would be surprised to learn that a special interest group is blocking these efforts so it can preserve billion-dollar tax breaks for a few wealthy private jet owners.

Flying in the United States can be made safer, more efficient and easier for all travelers by modernizing air traffic control, yet the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) — a group claiming to speak for corporate and private jet owners — is leading the charge against this much-needed reform.

Under the well-known practice that economists call "rent-seeking," those who enjoy government subsidies will fight tooth and nail to keep them in place. In the field of air traffic control (ATC), where Congress currently is considering sorely-needed modernization efforts, the business jet lobby is digging in to protect a system that helps them and harms everybody else.

Even in Washington, a town brimming with policy wonks and political hacks, air traffic control (ATC) is not a topic that gets much attention. That’s unfortunate, because it’s an issue with enormous economic consequences that impacts every American regardless of how often they fly. And this is precisely the kind of environment in which narrow special interests can sway policy to benefit the few at the expense of the overall American public.

The National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) vocal opposition to modernizing the air traffic control (ATC) system has more to do with preserving the status quo for private jet owners than protecting the interests of the flying public.